Child of Ilum
by Alabaster Ink
Summary: The Adegan Crystals are said to have a connection to the Force few can understand. In order to restore Balance, the Force called into life a child who would be born of the Crystals and taught by Jedi, but even Jedi can't teach everything. AP MAJOR AU!
1. The Child of Ilum

Hey all

**Hey all! I'm alive! Wheeeeeeeeeeee! Okay, I haven't been able to update a story or chapter for my other stories in a really long time. My computer broke down last summer and I lost everything. Even now I'm still getting problems. Now, by no means have I abandoned my other stories, I'm just taking a break from them.**

**I don't know where this idea came, but I was searching Wookiepedia and Ilum came up so I thought, hey, why not try something original. At least I think it's original, if not, then tell me and I'll erase it. **

**Summary: The Adegan crystals are said to be sensitive to the Force in a way sentient beings cannot be. They rely on the Force to guide and the Force relies on them to teach, balancing each other out. But the Force has lost its Balance, so in order to correct this, the Force sired a child into being. Born from the Ilum crystals, the boy grew up on the icy planet, watching through the Force the lives of the people in the galaxy. He lived off the Light in the galaxy, but when the Dark starts to take over, the child must rely on the people he watched if Balance is to be brought. But there are some things even the Jedi cannot teach.**

**This is going to be an extremely short chapter, but then again it's just the introduction and the actual story will begin in the next chapter. Please ignore any grammar or spelling mistake. I try to catch them, but sometimes they slip by and my grammar could use improvement. Hope you enjoy. **

**Key:**

_**The Force speaking**_

'_**Speaking to the Force/Mother/Crystal'**_

"Galactic Basic speaking"

/Other language speaking/

'_Telepathy'_

_Thoughts_

**P.S. As much as I love and admire her, Shmi Skywalker doesn't exist in this story. **

**WARNING! Major AU. Characters may seem a bit OOC, but as the story progresses they'll become more canon. And also Ani doesn't go to the Dark Side.**

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**Child of Ilum**

**Prologue: The Child of Ilum**

Tiny hands slowly wrapped around the blue crystal. It glowed brightly for a moment before calming, causing a happy sigh to escape the meditating child's mouth. This was not an unusual occurrence, at least, not anymore. For the past nine years, the child had lived in the bright caves of the icy planet, exploring the caverns and avoiding contact with any sentient life that came near. Mother had always told him to stay away from the Others for they came and took his Siblings away, putting them into the small silver tubes. The boy didn't understand why he had to hide, but he guessed that Mother didn't want him taken away either.

The child sometimes found this strange, as Mother was always so happen when the Others took one of her Children, and the boy always felt how happy his Siblings were when they left. But the boy did not question Mother, for She had to have some good reason and the boy didn't want to leave Mother just yet, so he played along. Whenever one of the Others entered a cave, the child would become as quiet as he could and run to the center of the great icy abode. Mother was always the strongest there and She never let any of the Others find him.

The Others would stay for days, and only when they had left would the boy crawl out of his hiding place and try to sense who had been taken. Sometimes, it was only one Crystal Sibling, but most of the time, three or four would be missing, and the child would return to his wandering. He was never tired and sleep never came to him, so the boy would stay up every night, talking to Mother or his Siblings. They were always willing to talk to him and many of his Sisters would tell him of the most recent Others. The Sisters seemed to always know what had happened for unlike his Brothers, they paid attention to it. The only time a Brother was awake for one of the Others was when he was chosen to go with Them.

Sometimes, his Sisters would call out to him and tell him that one of their Chosen Siblings had been given a name. It was always exciting when that happened for Crystals were only named when their Other had done something great or the Sibling had produced a unique light. It was the dream of any Crystal to be named. The boy had once asked if he could give them all names like they had given him one, but his Siblings had refused, stating that it was dishonorable to be given a name to a Crystal without first having been proven of earning it, well, that and the fact that there were far too many of them.

It was this way for many years, as Others continued to pass through the caves, the boy remained undetected. On one such morning, a day when Others where sensed nearby, the boy, sat in the main room deep in meditation. It was not an uncommon sight for this is what he did when They were there, but today was different, today the boy was not watching the Others through his mind as usual, but talking with his Father instead.

Father was always with His Son, even though He was unseen. He taught the boy everything he currently needed to know and was constantly talking. It was due to Him that the child could watch the lives of Beings from other planets and communicate with other Crystals from other places. But it was rare that Father would actually call out to him in meditation, an occurrence that had only happened once before on the day he had sought his Eldest Brother's presence.

So, here the boy sat, his Eldest Brother clutched in his small hands as he listened to his Father's words.

_**You have done well My Son and you have made Me proud. **_The Voice said softly to the child. _**But now, Child, it is time for you to leave the safety of the Known and move forward to the Unknown. There are many paths before you Son, and many yet to come. Others come and you must go with Them, so your Mother and I wish. **_

The boy nodded his head slowly as he carefully listened to everything his Father told him. He could sense the gravity of the situation and unconsciously gripped his Brother tighter.

_**You have watched as Others came and made your Siblings into protectors of My Order, into weapons used to keep Peace. Now you too must follow Them. Made from the world around you, your weapon can be used only by you, never broken and never melted.**_

'_**Yes Father, but how am I to make such a weapon?'**_

_**Your Eldest Brother has agreed to help you and shall become the basis of the protector. Use the snow and ice from the world before you to create such a Thing. You must focus all your energy into this my Son. **_

'_**Of course Father, tell me what I must do.'**_

_**Go to the highest spot in the cave and place your Brother down. Once there, I shall tell you more.**_

With that, the boy came out of his trance and began climbing up the winding ramp to the top of the cave. It took the boy a half an hour to reach the top, but even then the boy didn't even break a sweat.

The nine-year-old sat down and placed his Brother on the summit's point. Entering a meditative state once more, the child sought out his Father's presence once more and waited for a reply.

_**Good child. Now, focus your energy into the ground below you and direct it through the peak and into the Eldest. Envision, the weapons of the Others and modify it to fit your feelings.**_

But as if sensing the child's worry, the Father chuckled and sent a warm feeling to His Son.

_**Do not worry My Child. You will not fail at so simple a task.**_

'_**Yes Father.'**_

It took several minutes before the boy managed to transfer his energy into his Crystal Brother, but as soon as he did, he felt the change. The snow and ice that never seemed to chill him, began to form around the Crystal, shaping and molding to fit the child's and the Crystal's size. Moments passed before the weapon was completed and the boy released a sigh of relief.

_**You have done well Son. For years you have bonded with your Brother and this is the fruit of your labors. He shall always watch out for you now, just as I have. **_

'_**Thank you Father, but may I ask a question?'**_

_**All of life is a question My Child. What is one more?**_

'_**I wish to know if this is what the Other's do as well for I have never seen them come up here before?'**_

_**No Child. The Others make their weapons out of metal and they make them before arrival to the caves, fusing the two parts together once a Crystal has been found. Your weapon was made from something much more pure. A mixture of your Mother, Brother, and Me. **_

'_**Thank you Father. I will not fail in your teachings.'**_

_**I know Child. I am always with you. Now, the Others have arrived and you are to remain hidden until Their mission here is complete. Only when They are about to leave are you to present yourself. Spend the time saying farewell to your Mother and Siblings, for you will not be here again for many years. **_

'_**Yes Father.'**_

The boy snapped out of the meditation an walked over the summit. Where his blue Brother had once been, a silver-white weapon hilt remained. It was warm to the touch, just like the snow and ice around him, the cold never bothering him. Calmly, he placed the weapon in his gorgodon hide clothes pocket and made his way down to the loft above the main room.

Not even a minute later, the Others—his Sisters called them Jedi—walked into the room below and sat down to meditate on a Crystal. The boy dared not breathe and tried to pull his Father's protective warmth around him closer. Moments later, the boy felt secure enough to send his feelings into the cave around him and sent a goodbye to his Family. They replied in kind and he released the breath he didn't know he had held.

And so for the last time, the Child of Ilum sat down on the cavern floor and watched as the Others carried out their mission.

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**I realize that it's very short, but the next chapter will be much longer and will explain what went on in this chapter. **

**I'm sorry if the last line lacked zest, but it's 2:25 AM and I'm running out of steam. Hope you enjoyed anyway. Please review, but don't flame!**

**Have a nice night/day. BYE!**

**--TimeMage0955**

**P.S**_** Everything will begin to make sense soon.**_


	2. The Others, The Jedi

Hey

**Hey. Thanx for the reviews to everyone who gave me one. I'm glad you find it interesting cuz that's what I was going for. Also, if anyone has any info on the Ilum caves, just the planet in general, or how Jedi choose lightsaber crystals I would appreciate it. All I have to go by is Wookiepedia. Oh, and this takes place about three months before TPM. Well I won't bore you with another long AN. **

**Key:**

_**The Force speaking**_

'_**Speaking to the Force/Mother/Crystal'**_

**Mother/Crystal speaking**

"Galactic Basic speaking"

/Other language speaking/

'_Telepathy'_

_Thought_

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and the minor OC characters.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Child of Ilum**

**Chapter 1: The Others, The Jedi**

Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi was no stranger to the ways of the Force. In his relatively short life, he had been subject to many of the Force's aspects, sometimes enjoying a new revelation, but usually wishing it had come to him in a less life threatening way. It was times such as these, when he was trudging through many feet of snow, that he wished he could escape the Force's way of Punishment and ignore anything It said. Unfortunately, this was not to be.

It had been a recent mission, a simple wedding guard on Achillea, or it was supposed to be at least. Obi-Wan's friend/rival had managed to insult the Lord's fiancée by accidentally stating her opinion on the Lady's gown aloud. Needless to say, the Lady told her fiancé, who told the guards, who began firing. It wouldn't have been so hard if the blaster shots hadn't conveniently hit the padawans' lightsaber hilts, effectively ruining them beyond any repair (not to mention almost searing off their hands in the process).

Bant Eerin and Garen Muln, the two other padawans assigned to the mission, were even more displeased than their masters for the unfortunate event, having both just created new lightsabers the previous month. So, here they were, four padawans and their masters, trudging through the snow of Ilum in order to reach the Crystal Caves. Obi-Wan was not happy.

But it wasn't just the snow or the frigid temperatures that had Obi-Wan on edge. No, there was something here, elusive though it was. The padawan couldn't remember if he had felt it before when he had first come to the planet, but he knew that it wasn't just a gorgodon. In fact, now that he noticed it, the presence of another was almost impossible to ignore.

"Master, do you feel that?" If there was one person here who Obi-Wan could trust, it was his master, Qui-Gon Jinn. He always seemed to know when something was wrong, and the padawan respected him immensely.

"Feel what, padawan?"

"That presence. I've never felt anything like it." Obi-Wan turned to look at his master's face, confusion written in his eyes.

"Presence?" Qui-Gon asked. Looking at his apprentice's face, the older Jedi closed his eyes and reached out into the Force. He searched for a few minutes, during which time the other Jedi stopped and waited, before opening his eyes again.

"I couldn't feel anything beyond the normal gorgodon, padawan. Perhaps that's what you sense." But Obi-Wan shook his head and his master sent him a puzzled look.

"No master. I know what those creatures feel like, but this feeling is…different. It's almost playful actually." He gave his master another confused glance. "Does that make sense master?"

Qui-Gon pondered this and shared a glance with Adi Gallia, another Jedi on the mission and Siri Tachi's master. The female Jedi nodded her head and began to search for the feeling, the others soon following her example. Another moment passed and Obi-Wan began losing his newly acquired patience.

Siri was the first to open her eyes and shook her head 'no' as she did so. The other Jedi didn't feel anything either.

"But I know I felt something. I can still feel it even stronger than before."

"You're probably just imagining things Obi-Wan. We all know how much you hate flying, maybe this is just a result of the long flight." Garen was probably right, but Obi-Wan couldn't set aside his anxiety. He knew that as a Jedi he should set all his emotions aside, but this was just so overpowering, it was almost impossible.

"Yeah…" But he sounded uncertain, eyes darting back and forth for a moment.

Qui-Gon, feeling that if they didn't move soon they would all freeze, began to move forward towards the icy fortress of the caves. The other Jedi followed him, Obi-Wan lagging behind looking apprehensive.

As the eight people entered the caves, they immediately searched their surroundings for any sign of gorgodons. Finding none within range, they set out for their destination at the cave's center.

The crystal caverns were a marvel all on their own, but they did not compare to the splendor of the cave's main room. Columns of icy rock imbued with crystals of magnificent colors surrounded the room. At the center was a raised dais of rock and spiraling above it was a winding ramp that led to a loft above. It truly was a magnificent spectacle.

Normally Obi-Wan would have spent his time absorbing the beauty of the room, but the presence he had felt would not leave him alone. It reminded him of an annoying child who kept repeating the same question over and over again to the same person just to be an annoyance. The twenty-five year old padawan didn't understand how none of his comrades could feel it.

"You're brooding again Obi." Siri Tachi snapped him out of his thoughts. "How many times have we told you that brooding is not good for your health. You're gonna be gray by the time you're thirty."

Obi-Wan glared, "Yes, and we'll all know who to blame, won't we Siri?"

"Yep! Master Jinn of course. He never does seem to follow the rules; must grate on your nerves quite a bit doesn't it?" She sent him a smug smirk, the other Jedi, sans Obi-Wan, chuckling in front of them.

"Oh yes, quite." The young man managed to growl out.

"Now, now, Obi-Wan it's for your own good. Force knows how dull you'd be without Master Jinn." She said, smirk still present on her face.

"I'm not dull, Siri, I'm level-headed. Unlike you, for whom we have to thank for coming here." A dark cloud seemed to have permanently settled over Obi-Wan's head.

"Oh come on. It's not my fault that dress was ugly!" She pouted, turning her head and crossing her arms.

"It wasn't ugly, Siri, and even if you thought so, you didn't have to go shouting it out for the whole galaxy to hear."

"Actually, Obi, the dress was rather ugly." Bant added her two credits to the conversation, a sheepish expression crossing her face.

Siri nodded her head vigorously. "See, Bant agrees with me. Thank you Bant."

"I'm still mad at you."

Wagging her finger in a scolding manner, Siri replied, "Now, now Bant, anger leads to the Dark Side."

"Acting on my anger does, but feeling it before releasing it into the Force is another thing entirely." The Mon Calamari replied.

"Well, you're certainly taking your sweet time releasing it, aren't you?" The question was rhetorical, but Bant felt the need to reply anyway.

"This is the second saber I've had to make in the past three months. I'd say I'm entitled to be a bit perturbed." She turned to Garen. "Right?"

The other padawan nodded his head vigorously. No matter how sweet Bant usually was, she had a rather dangerous temper that any self-respecting person would want to avoid. Plus, he did have to agree with her; lightsaber parts were not cheep and building one was annoyingly time consuming.

Siri rolled her eyes and smiled at Obi-Wan, their former banter forgotten as they reached the stone dais. Each padawan separated and went with their respective masters, stretching out with the Force to find a crystal.

While normally an easy task for Jedi whom have made a lightsaber before, Obi-Wan was having an increasingly difficult time of locating a crystal that suited his purposes. As this was the second lightsaber he was making, the other having lasted many years, the padawan felt that he should have been having an easy time of it. Unfortunately, the annoying presence he kept feeling wasn't giving him any room to think. It was like a constant itch in the back of his mind now, but while he could usually ignore something like this, the feeling was persistent.

What really bothered Obi-Wan wasn't just the presence itself, but that fact that only he seemed to be able to feel it. His master almost never failed in feeling anything unusual, so the fact that this time it was only Obi-Wan who could sense something was troubling. It was almost enough to make the padawan feel insane. But, he didn't want to bother his master again with phantom feelings, so, even though his instincts screamed at him not to do it, he started to ignore the strange feeling. Unfortunately for him, this would prove to be a bad idea.

* * *

The boy was a very good at heart, always kind to the rare life forms he met on the desolate planet, but that was not to say that he was without the spark of a child. He was after all, a nine-year-old boy, and little boys generally tend to get into more mischief than little girls (although this is not to say that girls are not mischievous, they just generally happen to be more secretive about it). This particular tow-headed boy was no exception.

Now, the child was extremely good at hiding, so much so that even experienced Jedi Masters couldn't sense him. So, imagine his surprise when the seemingly insignificant padawan was able to feel him in the Force when he hadn't even entered the caves yet. It was quite a shock indeed.

He had spend all of his life watching the Jedi, watching as they focused on his Sisters and Brothers, making Them into the perfect protectors. He dared not use the word weapon, for it felt to impure, tainted almost. But, he was getting off track. The point was that no Jedi, no matter their level, had _ever_ managed to sense him. This young Jedi was different.

The blue-eyed child had felt it when the padawan had sensed him and it scared the boy at first. It was almost like Father had hit him on the back and forced him to turn his head in the direction he wanted. But once he found the source it was almost impossible to ignore the need to keep an eye on. He could feel the padawan searching for him, sensing him unlike his master and companions. So, the boy felt he might give the young Jedi an extra nudge.

It seemed to work, as he could feel the padawan's interest in this sudden anomaly begin to grow. The boy watched as the Jedi began to search for crystals, and he felt more than saw the strange padawan begin to get agitated by his presence. It was rather fun to be able to annoy someone new; his Siblings were too used to him to fall prey to any of his mischief. Then, he felt the beginning of being ignored.

Now, if there was anything in the galaxy that grated on the boy's nerves it was being ignored. Not being sensed was one thing as that felt more like a game than anything else, but when he was purposefully ignored he just couldn't stand it. It was fun to fool a Jedi, but it was not fun to made the fool.

So, in order to be acknowledged again, the boy felt it was his duty to help the Jedi out. If he helped the Jedi, then he would have to stop ignoring him. The boy knew what the Jedi was looking for, a Crystal. Now, it was common knowledge among his Family that when a Crystal was destroyed It's presence was sent back to Mother and reborn. Crystals grew rapidly, so all the child had to do was find the padawan's "old" crystal and…return it to him.

Most Jedi don't realize that what attracts them to a Crystal is a bond so deep in the Force that it is actually unable to be felt, and when they have to rebuilt a lightsaber, they have to find that bond again, even though they don't realize it. The boy, however, knew exactly which of his Brothers had been with that particular padawan as it was written in his Force signature.

It wasn't that hard to figure out as the color of one's Crystal was reflected in the color of their signature. Just as no two hilts were the same, the color of the blade was never the same unless it belonged to the same Jedi. While the colors may look similar at a quick glance, each blade was actually a different shade upon closer inspection, making it easy to determine which Brother the young Jedi had had. All the child had to do was match the Force signature with that of a Crystal and that was that. Of course the fact that he could talk to his Siblings helped quite a bit.

His Brother wasn't hard to find, nor was he very far away from the spot the boy had been sitting in. Not many Jedi came up to the loft so the possibility of the padawan being able to find it were very slim, meaning that he would have had to pick a Substitute. It was a known fact that Substitutes didn't work as well as the Crystal meant for a Jedi.

At nine-years of age, the boy was very strong, but it did help that his Brother wanted to be found. After pulling the Crystal free from the icy rocks, the thin little boy had a very hard decision to make (at least it was hard for him).

He could walk down from the loft and place it conveniently in the young Jedi's way, but that would violate what his Father told him to do about being hidden. He could also just walk right up and give it him, but that would really go against Father as, unlike his former plan, there was no slim chance of him remaining undetected. Then of course, there was the fun plan.

He had always wanted to just drop a Crystal onto a Jedi's unsuspecting head, like the squeriks on trees that he seen when Father let him view the galaxy. It had always amused him, but he would have to ask his Brother's permission first. He didn't know if the Crystal would like being dropped several hundred feet only to land on the hard cranium of a Jedi apprentice. Somehow, that just didn't seem pleasant. But, it was worth a try.

'_**Brother, how would you like to learn to fly?'**_

* * *

It was times such as these that Obi-Wan Kenobi wished he had listened to his instincts. They had told him that ignoring the feeling in his mind was a bad idea, but did he listen to them? No, and now he was paying for it with a huge lump beginning to form on his head.

He didn't know how it had happened exactly, one moment he was searching for a crystal and the next thing he knew his master was holding a bacta pack to his throbbing skull. When he managed to finally ask what happened without feeling the need to throw up, his master just held out a large blue crystal, a perfect size for his lightsaber as well as the exact color he was looking for.

The other padawans had already been in a meditative state with their new crystals for several hours, so with nothing else to go on, Obi-Wan took the crystal from Qui-Gon and began to study it.

It was like meeting an old friend, although the padawan sort of wished that this friend had decided to drop in a different way. It was perfectly shaped, a good, clean cut and it would fit in perfectly with his lightsaber. And so, with a shrug, Obi-Wan began meditating on his new crystal. It didn't even bother him when he felt a strange sort of smug happiness faintly echo in his mind.

* * *

Human though he was, the boy had never had the need to eat, sleep, drink, or even use a fresher. Most of the time this didn't bother him, but now as he sat here waiting for the Jedi to finish, he wished that sleep would come to him if only just to waste time. He knew he could have spent the time with his Family, but he had said his good-byes already and he really didn't want to make leaving any harder.

It truly was a miracle the boy wasn't insane, but he had learned patience a long time ago even with his hyper tendencies. However, patience wasn't a strong point, making the wait seem that much longer. So, he passed the time making small talk with Eldest Brother and Father. They wanted him to practice with his protector, which he did of course, but even that couldn't hold his attention for too long.

Three days came and went before the boy began to toy with the idea of waking the Jedi up himself. He knew that that would ruin the whole ceremony, but no matter how un-human he appeared to be, he had the attention span of about a hungry five year old. Just went he was about to scream in frustration, he felt the young padawans begin to come out of there meditative states. Finally, he could reveal himself.

Chuckling softly to himself, the boy began his quite decent down the ramp.

_I feel like an evil mastermind in a cheesy holofilm._

* * *

Never had Obi-Wan felt so at peace. He could feel his lightsaber become complete in his hands as the two metal sides connected around the crystal and fuse together. The galaxy and the Force seemed so much clearer in meditation that it truly was a challenge for the young Jedi apprentice to return to the real world, where peace was a rare find.

But there was something there, something pulling at the back of his mind again. It was the same presence he had been feeling the whole time, the meditation having only dulled it. Now, it was stronger, closer, and Obi-Wan wasn't sure he liked that.

He didn't want to open his eyes, and truthfully, he probably wouldn't have, had the presence not been so persistent. He debated on cracking just one eye open first before deciding that if he wanted this to stop, he would should get it over with as soon as possible. So, stealing his resolve, he breathed a great sigh and opened his eyes.

There, staring right at him not even three inches from his face, was a smirking, blond-hair, blue-eyed, little boy of about nine-years of age that Obi-Wan _knew_ had not been there before. So, his brain not think so much as a Jedi, but more a normal person, the padawan did exactly what any normal person would do in such a situation.

He screamed.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. Chapter one is done and I stayed up all night to do it. It is currently 4:24 AM and I am ready for bed. Oh and if I forgot to mention, this is NOT SLASH! I have nothing against it personally, but I just don't like writing it. **

**So, goodnight everyone, please review (BUT DON'T FLAME!) If you don't like it then don't read it.**

**See you all later!**

**--TimeMage0955**


	3. Warrior Who Walks on Sky

I love you all so much

**I love you all so much! Your reviews make me so happy. I'm normally a very slow updater, but your support has really inspired me. Please ignore any spelling or grammar mistakes. I try to find them all, but sometimes they just slip past me. Hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: See last chapter.**

**Key:**

_**The Force speaking**_

'_**Speaking to the Force/Mother/Crystal'**_

**Mother/Crystal speaking**

"Galactic Basic speaking"

/Other language speaking/

'_Telepathy'_

_Thought_

* * *

**Child of Ilum**

**Chapter 2: Warrior Who Walks on Sky**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"WHY ARE WE SCREAMING!" The boy yelled and shut his mouth, an innocently questioning look on his round face.

"W-wh-why are we screaming!? I'm screaming because I just woke up to find a strange little boy three inches from my face! Why are you screaming!?" Obi-Wan was breathing hard and looked decidedly terrified, his hand clutching at his heart.

"'Cuz it's fun." The boy grinned, showing off pearly white teeth. He was clearly quite pleased with himself at being able to scare a Jedi.

Sputtering, Obi-Wan barely heard the gasps coming from around the room, as the other Jedi stared in shock at the mysterious little boy. He certainly was a spectacle with is bare feet and gorgodon hide tunic and shorts. How the boy wasn't freezing was beyond anyone's knowledge, and the child didn't seem affected by the blistering temperatures at all. But, all of this was the farthest thing from Obi-Wan's mind as he was still clutching his wildly beating heart.

"Because it's fun!?" A look of bewilderment entered the padawan's face. "You think scaring people half to death is _fun_!?"

The blond boy adopted a thoughtful look as he slowly taped his right index finger against his chin, before a grin split across his face. "Uh huh." He nodded his head vigorously, grin never leaving his face.

"What planet are you from!?" Obi-Wan was obviously still in shock as the question stupidly fell from his mouth. He knew that as a Jedi he should control his emotions and not let them control him like this, but he was too bewildered to care.

"Umm…this one." The child's face was thoughtful and he stated the answer like it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy.

Qui-Gon Jinn, who up until now had just stared in shock at the strange encounter, finally built up enough courage to actually find his own voice and enter the conversation.

"Child, there are no humans or other sentients living on this planet, so it is not possible that this is were you're from." His tone was meant to placate the seemingly imaginative child, but there was an undercurrent of unease as he watched the boy seem to glide across the floor closer to his padawan.

"Yes it is. I've lived here my whole life, with Mother and Father and my Sisters and Brothers."

"Your family is here too?" The Jedi Masters exchanged incredulous looks.

"Of course." The boy shrugged his tiny shoulders. "We've always been here."

"But we would have sensed it. We would have known if there were people living here." Clee Rhara, Garen's master, stated incredulously.

"Are you so sure of that?" The child's blue eyes twinkled with an amused sort of knowledge and an odd smirk formed on his face.

"Of course I'm sure!" The Jedi looked affronted at such an obvious smear at their skill.

"Oh? If you're so sure then why can't you sense me when I'm standing right in front of you?" It was a seemingly innocent question, but Obi-Wan could tell that the child was toying with them.

"What are you talking about? Of course we can sense-" But she was cut off when she realized that the boy was speaking the truth. She couldn't sense him even though she knew he was there!

"How is this possible?" Bant's master, Kit Fisto, whispered. "All living things have a Force signature. How can we not sense you?"

The boy just continued to smirk, not saying a word, watching as the masters and padawans sent looks back at each other. Slowly, he turned his head to the still startled Obi-Wan, the only Jedi not trying to find an answer to the anomaly that he was.

The Jedi padawan just sat there breathing hard and staring a the child, a suspiciously curious look on his face. The boy looked back at him and the grin disappeared, only to be replaced by the thoughtful look again. It was almost as if the child was looking through him instead of at him.

Murmuring came from behind, but Obi-Wan's attention was on the boy. Stretching out with the Force, the apprentice tried to determine if what the masters were feeling (or lack there of) was actually possible. Eyes squinted and brow creased, but right before he could say anything he was interrupted by…

"You're shorter than I thought."

All the murmuring stopped and Obi-Wan snapped out of his search in surprise. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're shorter than I thought." The strange child repeated, looking directly into Obi-Wan's blue-gray eyes. "You actually looked a lot taller from the loft."

Obi-Wan was speechless for a moment in surprise at the seemingly random statement. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you." He said after he gained control of his voice once again.

"That's okay." The boy went back to studying him. All sound seemed to leave the room as the Jedi watched with growing anxiety at what the boy was going to do next.

Stepping closer to the padawan, the child sat down in a criss-cross fashion and moved his head so that he was almost nose-to-nose with the older boy. The boy stayed like that for a moment, and Obi-Wan began to get decidedly uncomfortable.

"You're very odd." He said after a moment, and the padawan had a hard time not raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry?"

"No one has ever been able to sense me. _Ever._ But then you come along and sense me the moment you come near the caves. Hence, you are odd." It was said so astutely that Obi-Wan actually had to fight to maintain his equilibrium and not fall down under the boy's scrutiny.

"Obi-Wan, is this what you sensed?" The padawan turned his head sharply to his master's wary being.

Nodding his head slowly, Obi-Wan replied, "I think so. At least it felt the same went I searched for his presence a minute ago."

"Well of course it was me!" The boy stated indignantly. "Who else would you have been able to sense? I'm the only other human on the planet!"

"But didn't you say you lived here with your family?" Bant asked, her calm voice betraying her curiosity.

"Yep." The boy's face went blank for a moment as he turned not to Obi-Wan, but to the lightsaber the older boy clutched tightly in his hands. Then, he smiled and sent the padawan a funny sort of look.

"Little Brother says you have a very hard head." He grinned at the Jedis' shocked faces. Obi-Wan looked down at his lightsaber in estranged amazement.

"Little Brother?" Adi Gallia asked.

"Yeah." He said, pointing at all the crystals adorning the cavern. "Blue, Green, Brown, Yellow, and Grey Crystals are Brothers, and Pink, Red, Purple, White, Orange, and Clear Crystals are Sisters. Then of course there are the different color variations, but they're always the same as their base Sibling." He looked at their shocked faces. "It's complicated I know."

Shaking his head slowly, Garen sighed. "This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever."

"Yes it does, just ask Father."

"Father?" This time it was an exasperated Siri Tachi who asked the question, slightly fearing what the obviously insane child was going to say.

"Uh huh. You call Him the Force, I think." The child's head turned a bit in thought before nodding his head slowly. "Yeah, you call Him the Force."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Siri said, all Jedi calm and emotional tranquility leaving her in this moment of insanity. "You actually expect us to believe that you're father is the **Force**!?"

"But he is." He said heatedly, wind slowly starting to pick up around him.

"That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard, and I've been friends with this guy," she pointed at Obi-Wan, "almost my entire life!"

"Oh yeah? What does the Force tell you then?" The child asked hotly, crossing his arms in the process.

"It tells me that you're a little liar!" She yelled at him.

"I am not!" If there was one thing that the small boy hated more than being ignored it was being called a liar. "And besides, you haven't even checked through the Force yet. I would have known."

"Fine, you want me to check, then I'll check!" Calming herself down, Siri began to search the Force for the answer to the boy's absurd claim and what she found was not what she expected.

Opening her eyes slowly, the shock she felt rolled off her in waves. "Impossible."

"What is it, padawan?" Adi asked, concerned.

"He-he's telling the truth." It was whispered in shock, but the truth of her statement rang throughout the room.

"Siri, you're not serious?" Bant stated, her already large eyes going even larger.

The human girl nodded her head slowly, staring at the child in front of her. Silence rang throughout the cavern as the other Jedi started searching the Force as well, each time coming to the conclusion that the boy was telling the truth.

"But how can this be?" Master Gallia said, fighting the need to sit down and never get up. She turned to Qui-Gon and looked at him as if searching for an answer, but she founded the same stunned look on his face as well.

The little boy looked at the Jedi and nodded his he decidedly. "Yep, I was born from the Crystals because they're so attuned with Father." He looked at their stunned faces. "It's a really long, complicated story with so many twists and side stories that even I get confused sometimes. The point is, is that Father willed me into being and I've been here ever since."

"But-but how could no one have known? Jedi have been coming here for years and we've never picked up any small trace that someone might be living here!" Master Rhara cried, the situation becoming more than she could handle.

"Well of course you haven't!" Was the indignantly amused reply. "I'm very good at hiding." He was obviously very proud of this fact.

"But, what about food, clothing, heat, and other necessities?" It was obvious that the normally calm Jedi Master was grasping at any straws to disprove the boy's statements. "And how could you survive against the gorgodons? Actually, how could you survive at all in this frigid weather with those clothes?"

"Umm, you actually just answered part of your own question when you pointed out that I am in fact wearing clothes. As you can see, they're made from gorgodon hide, which I took from and already dead one and cut into clothes using sharp rocks I've found. Also, the gorgodons never come in this far and they've never bothered me when I travel out of the caverns." He pause thinking about what else she asked, as she had said it all in a rather jumbled rush.

"As for food, well, I've never had the need to eat, sleep, or even use a fresher in my life. Heat isn't a problem either as I've never been cold and the temperatures here are very nice to me."

"Are you sure you're human?" Obi-Wan asked, after having been silent for so long.

"Yep, I'm definitely human, although I suppose that if you wanted to be a poodoo head you could consider me near-human." He huffed, clearly not happy at not being considered completely human.

A sigh escaped Adi as she finally gave into her need to sit down. "Qui-Gon, please tell me that this is all a really weird dream and that I'll be waking up soon when everything is normal again."

"I wish I could, Master, but I'm afraid you're not dreaming."

"Ohh, that's what I was afraid of." She let out a low groan. "I realize that this is improper behavior for a Jedi of my rank, but right now, I just don't care. I have a huge migraine now and it doesn't appear to be leaving me any time soon."

The boy, who's name was still unknown, cocked his head to the side again and looked that the young council member. Seemingly gliding, the boy made his way over to her and placed both hands on his head. She lifted her head up in surprise and tried to call out, but once her eyes met his, her voice escaped her.

They were a calm blue unlike any she'd seen before and they held none of the childishness she'd thought they would. They seemed to be staring straight into her soul and as much as she wished it, she could not pull away. Just as she thought she was going to be swimming in the void that had started to become her mind, his eyes began to glow.

It wasn't a normal sort of glow either. It was a light blue that filled his entire eye, but where one might think it obscured everything about them, it only intensified the eye color. His pupils and irises darkened to a darker blue and the whites of his eyes became an icy sort of blue. Yet no matter the color, the eyes seemed to get brighter, and the glowing expanded till it seemed like his eyes were outlined in a thin blue fire.

Then, his hands began to glow a bluish color as well against her head and she slowly felt her migraine fade away. While she thought he was going to attack her before, he had actually been helping her. To be able to do that without proper training was astounding.

"Are you feeling better?" The glowing had stopped and his hands fell to his sides, but his eyes remained just as intense.

"How in the galaxy did you do that?" She asked in the din of the room. "It must have taken a lot of energy to do that and you have no proper training."

"A lot? I was just getting rid of your headache, which didn't take that much energy at all. And Father teaches me lots of stuff." The boy looked honestly confused, and Adi realized just how cute the child actually was. She had been so preoccupied by his insane claims that she failed to see how adorable the blond-headed boy was.

"But-but…you know what, I'm just not going to ask. I don't think I want to know, but I have a feeling I'll find out eventually."

"Okay." He said simply and turned around to return to his original spot in front of Obi-Wan.

The older boy looked slightly shaken up with everything that had happened and the boy watched as his mentor put a reassuring hand on the padawan's shoulder. It made the child smile slightly at the small show of fatherly affection, but it also made him frown on the inside.

As much as he loved his Family, they couldn't hold him and give him the same soothing feelings as a physical touch probably would. Oh sure, his Father and Mother had hugged him by wrapping their presence's around him, but that wasn't physical, it wasn't tangible, and it left a dull sort of ache in the young boy's chest.

He had watched countless times through his Father, as parents and their children interacted. Watching the many worlds around his own, and saw how no matter the culture or the species, parents and children always had the same kind of bond that they just didn't have with anything or anyone else. Oh yeah, their were those few bad shaaks in the bunch, but all in all, their was a special bond between parents and their children, a bond that, while similar, the boy just didn't have with his own Parents. But as soon as these thoughts surfaced, the child ruthlessly squashed them. It would do no good to focus on the unattainable, and either way, he was happy with what he had.

"I just have one question." Bant paused as she suddenly felt all eyes on her. Taking a deep breath she continued. "Why have you decided to make yourself known now?"

Realization dawned on the other Jedis' faces. Bant was right! Why had the child felt the need make himself known now?

"Oh that's an easy question." The boy smiled. "Because Father told me too. Mother used to always tell me to hide went Jedi came unless Father told me not too. He said that when I made my protector, I would be ready to leave. And now that I have, Father has deemed me ready."

"Wait! Protector? Leave? What are you talking about?" Kit asked, his normal smile absent in the presence of a confused look.

"Well, to answer your questions in order," He paused. "A protector is the same thing as what I believe you call a…lightsaber? Is that what it's called? The long glowing blade thing?"

Slightly perturbed by how the boy had described the weapon, the Jedi nodded slowly.

"Well, yeah that's basically what it is. As for the second question, Father told me that when Jedi came I was to leave with them and train with them." Here he paused again. "I don't know why, but Father told me that it was imperative that I be trained by the Jedi."

That made sense, in an odd, twisted sort of way. The Force would obviously want his Son to learn how to handle power in the Light Side before anyone of the Dark Side managed to find him.

"But wait a minute. How did you get the necessary materials to make a lightsaber in the first place?" That…was a very good question.

"Oh, I didn't use the same stuff you all do. My Crystal is actually Eldest Brother, the older Crystal in the cave. Actually, a few hours before you came, I created my lightsaber from the snow and ice around me and melded it together. According to Father, it will never break or melt."

A shocked silence met his remark. This day just kept getting stranger and strange. It was a pity too, just when the Jedi felt they had everything sorted out, this got thrown in their face.

Clearing his throat, Qui-Gon asked the question currently gnawing at everyone's minds. "May we see this—protector was it?—yes protector, of yours?"

"Okay, but don't drop it, 'kay?" He said as he reached down and put his hand in his pocket.

"I won't, I promise." Qui-Gon smiled reassuringly and received a bright smile in return.

Reaching out his hand, the Jedi watched as the most beautiful weapon was taken out of the boy's pocket. Just as the weapon was about to be put in his hand, the boy froze and Qui-Gon could actually feel the Force churning around the child. The boy's hand retracted quickly and he shot the Jedi Master an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Mister Jedi, Sir, but Father has told me that letting you hold my protector would be a bad idea unless you wanted to get your hand frozen."

"What do you mean, young one." Qui-Gon asked as he slowly drew his hand away. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his fellow Jedi walk over to his apprentice and him, for they too wanted to see this weapon.

"While it may be warm to me, my lightsaber was still made from the ice and snow of this planet. It was fused and crafted together by my use of the Force, making the cold that much more potent to anyone but me. It someone other than myself were to touch it, they would slowly be turned to ice, depending on how long they held it." He turned his head slowly to look at the Jedi. "You may look at it, but I would not advise touching it."

The Jedi slowly nodded their heads and peered at the weapon from a safe distance, while it rested innocently in the boy's outstretched hand.

It truly was the most magnificent lightsaber any of them had ever seen. It appeared to be a weapon meant for the Form V style of lightsaber combat, but it also had the appearance of an electrum lightsaber. However, while electrum was gold, this looked to be a silvery-white crystal almost and upon closer inspection, resembled tightly compacted snowflakes. But, as quickly as it was taken out, the boy put it back and looked at the stunned faces of the people around him.

They were in obvious shock about everything that had happened to them today, something the boy could understand, but as much as he would have loved to remain at home forever, he was given a job to do by his Father and his short attention span was beginning to show. When given a task where he actually got to experience something exciting, his patience at having to wait to start grew exceedingly thin, something his Sisters had always admonished him about, but he never listened too. And now, Father had told him to join the Jedi, so that was exactly what he planned on doing.

"Umm, excuse me?" All attention turned to him, something that was becoming annoyingly frequent today. "I don't mean to rush you as I know you're all still trying to process this, but do you think you can begin processing once we're in space?"

The Jedi stared at him for a moment in silence before anyone made any real movement.

"Right, well, let's pack up and get ready to go." Qui-Gon said, taking control.

"What!? Qui-Gon you don't actually mean we're taking him back with us!?" Clee yelled in surprise.

Raising an eyebrow, he replied, "But of course, Master Rhara. The Force had willed it and I'm not one to go against the Force's demands. Besides, how could you leave the boy here of all places when you know you could bring him someplace better?"

"But…but…" She sighed in defeat. "Fine, you're right. Take advantage of my softness." Her voice turned stern. "But I hope you realize that your apprentice is the only one who can sense him, so we have no way of knowing where he is without Obi-Wan."

"Obi-Wan rarely goes very far without me. Besides, where can he disappear to on a small ship such as ours?"

"Fine." She gave another sigh and muttered, "I never thought I'd have to rely on a padawan to sense a being so close to me."

"Now, why don't you go and gather up your things…err…umm…I'm sorry, but I just realize we never got your name." Realization dawned on the Jedi once more, and Obi-Wan could have sworn that he saw Siri slap he hand against her forehead.

"That's okay. I don't have anything except for my protector and the clothes I'm wearing, so we can go whenever you're ready." The boy smiled at them all. "Oh, and my Mother calls me Anakin, Anakin Skywalker."

* * *

**Fwooo. I am tired. I think this is the fastest I've ever updated a story in my entire life. Oh and just to clear it up before I bet too many questions: Ani doesn't call lightsabers, weapons, but the Jedi do, so that's why they're called that when referencing what the Jedi are feeling. **

**Well goodnight everyone. It is currently 4:32 AM and I am going to bed. I don't know when the next update will be, but it will probably be soon. **

**Night!**

**--TimeMage0955 **


	4. Sleepless Fears

**You guys are great. Your reviews make me so happy. Please ignore any spelling or grammar mistakes. I try to find them all, but sometimes they just slip past me. Hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: See chapter one.**

**Key:**

_**The Force speaking**_

'_**Speaking to the Force/Mother/Crystal'**_

**Mother/Crystal speaking**

"Galactic Basic speaking"

/Other language speaking/

_-Telepathy-_

_Thought_

**P.S. There will be major changes to Ani and Obi's relationship. Since, Qui-Gon isn't showing such interest in him apart from shocked fascination, there's no real jealousy. So don't expect the same animosity. Oh, 3PO is going to have slightly different background, but don't worry about R2, he's still the same and will come in later.**

* * *

**Child of Ilum**

**Chapter Three: Sleepless Fears**

After introductions were done, the trip from the caves was spent in relative silence, each of the Jedi too lost in thought to carry out a conversation and the boy—Anakin—was too busy taking in a last look of his home. It was strange to think that someone could call the frozen ball of ice 'home,' but for Jedi who needed an extra niche to focus in the Force, it wasn't too absurd.

Qui-Gon Jinn cast a small appraising look at his apprentice, watching as the boy—man—stumbled about in the snow. He was fully prepared for knighthood, of that the Jedi had no doubts, but one thing kept bothering him. Qui-Gon just didn't understand how his padawan had managed to sense the strange child when some of the Jedi's most seasoned masters could not.

It wasn't that he didn't think his apprentice wasn't powerful, he did, it was just that Obi-Wan still had so much growing left to do, his powers still had to mature. They were mature enough for knighthood, of course, he only needed experience, but the other masters were mature in their connection to the Force, so how did they not sense him?

He certainly wasn't odd, as Anakin had so aptly put it, but Qui-Gon had always felt that there was something special about him. Unfortunately, it had almost taken him too long to realize that, but what was done was done and he couldn't change that. Maybe the Force had something planned that involved the two. The boy was instructed to become a Jedi, so maybe this was Its' way of telling them who would be the best master for His Son. It would certainly make sense. Obi-Wan was ready for Knighthood.

* * *

Now that it was actually happening, Anakin wasn't as ready to leave as he thought he was. He was excited of course, this was the first time he would actually see the other parts of the galaxy with his own eyes, but getting ready to leave and actually doing it were two completely different things.

When he was getting ready, all he could think about was the future: what would happen when he reached the Core, what was space like, would he get along with other Jedi, etc. But now, when he was actually about to do it, he found that he wasn't as ready as he thought. In leaving, he had to say good-bye to Mother, and his Siblings, to his entire past. For the first time in his life, Anakin knew real fear, petty fears from the past were nothing in comparison.

He was scared of what would happen when he reached the Core. He was scared of going into space, that he would never come back home. He was scared that the other Jedi wouldn't like him. He was scared that he would forget Mother and his Siblings. But most of all, he was scared that he would fail.

Father, and Mother, and his Brothers and Sisters, they were all counting on him. He was given life solely for the purpose of bringing the Force back into Balance. Father was so temperamental now, with the Dark Side growing and the Light Side being so stuck in its ways, so complacent, that the Dark was slowly encompassing it. The growth scared him and made him feel almost cold whenever it happened.

Anakin had never felt real cold, he didn't have to as long as there was enough Light, but there were times, rare ones, but times all the same, when he would get a quick bout of chills. It was during these times, Father told him, that the Dark Side grew, sometimes a small amount, sometimes not.

Over the years, the boy had gotten used to the chills. They weren't cold per say, just unpleasant, more like chills of fear than of temperature. It wasn't that Anakin was scared of the Darkness, no for that was a part of Father, Light **and** Dark, he was more fearful of the person who wielded it.

To wield the Power of Darkness, one had to be worthy of It, and Dark was extremely picky. Only those with power and potential could harness It enough that It would upset the Balance, and it was for this reason that Anakin feared. This person would be strong and he (or she) would be **cold**. Anakin didn't know how to fight the cold. He didn't…

"Hey?" Anakin's head swiveled around to look at the strange padawan walking next to him.

"You okay?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Oh…umm…yes. I was just saying good-bye." The boy smiled at him as they continued their hike through the snow.

Looking down at the child's feet and bare legs, Obi-Wan shook his head. "I don't know how you're not freezing. I'm bundled up like a bantha and you're walking about like it's the height of summer!"

The boy shrugged. "Like I said before, I don't get cold. The snow actually feels quite nice."

"That's not normal!"

"I'm not normal." The child's eyes twinkled in childlike glee, the first Obi-Wan had seen since they'd left the caves about an hour earlier.

Obi-Wan didn't know why he had suddenly decided to talk to the boy. After nearly dying of a heart attack, the padawan actually had the biggest reason not to talk to him. But, the boy looked so sad, so lost, a huge contrast from when they first met, that Obi-Wan couldn't help but want to help him. _Oh sweet Force, I'm helping a pathetic life form._

There was something about this boy, something unnerving. He couldn't tell whether it was good or bad, but it he couldn't shake the feeling of disaster that settled in his mind like a persistent cloud. He didn't know what to make of this feeling and it scared him.

"So…your name's Obi-Wan, huh?" The padawan nodded his slowly, not knowing where this conversation was going.

"That's right…"

There was a slight, uncomfortable pause.

"Kinda an odd name, isn't it?"

"One could say the same thing about your name." Obi-Wan fired back, beginning to feel a slight tick beginning on his forehead.

"Touché." The boy shrugged.

"What?"

"Touché. It kinda means some good or clever point made at the person's expense by another person, I think." The boy looked thoughtful for a moment, and Obi-Wan felt a flash of amusement coming from him before dissipating quickly. It was so quick in fact, that the padawan wondered if he had imagined it.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Another uncomfortable silence stretched over the two as they walked behind the others. They passed the rest of the trip in silence, hoping that nothing would force them to converse like that again. It wasn't until they had reached the ship and every one was on board that Anakin spoke up.

"You're not odd, Obi-Wan Kenobi, even though I said you were earlier. You're special. You have a special destiny, one far different than your peers. Don't be afraid Obi-Wan. It can take control of you." And with that, the boy walked off towards the sleeping quarters, the place that the masters had gathered in, leaving a stunned Obi-Wan behind.

He didn't know what had just happened. The boy was an enigma, of that he was sure. One moment, he's a normal child (or semi-normal), with a sweet innocence about him that people are drawn to, but the next moment, he's spewing out Master Yoda like comments. Obi-Wan didn't know what to make of it.

"Hey, Obi-Wan, watcha thinking about?" Garen shouted from the cockpit, as the ship lifted off and entered the atmosphere.

Obi-Wan spun around quickly, almost tripping over the droid parts from some unknown mission in the corner, but just managed to catch himself before falling. His friends, unfortunately for him (or them depending on point of view), didn't manage to mask their amusement quickly enough for him not to notice.

"Good way of using your Jedi instincts Obi. Really, you should take a padawan." Siri stated.

"I'm still a padawan myself, and besides I was distracted." He huffed. If he was trying to save face, then it was failing miserably.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi! You know what Master Yoda says about distraction." Siri quickly hunched over as if leaning on a walking stick, and adopted a serious look. "Not get distracted, Jedi do. Leads to death, distraction does."

"When has Master Yoda ever said that?" Bant asked, hands on her hips.

"He hasn't, but I imagine he must have said it at one point." She replied and ignored the other three padawans' groans.

"Siri, what are we going to do with you?" Garen asked.

She shrugged. "I have no idea, but tell me when you figure one out." Spinning around, she effortlessly avoided any droids or ship parts and lying about on the floor. Throwing a frustrated Obi-Wan a small smirk, she walked out of the entrance space and down the small hallway to the female sleeping quarters to get some much needed rest.

"I hate it when she does that." Obi-Wan growled

"Obi-Wan, hatred leads-" Bant was cut off, however, by her aggravated friend.

"To the Dark Side, I know." He crossed his arms. "I can't help it though. She just knows exactly what buttons to press and it gets really aggravating." Obi-Wan sighed and missed his friends' glances of sympathy.

"Come on. It's been a long day, why don't we all follow Siri's example and get some sleep?" Bant suggested, her healer apprenticeship coming to the fore. "We'll be in hyperspace soon so it's best we get rested now."

"Follow Siri's example?" Garen asked with a smirk. "That's a first."

Slapping her webbed hand over the back of his head, she sent him a meaningful glare. "Oh, shut up, you."

"Now, now Bant, anger-"

"You shut up too!" She slapped Obi-Wan over the head as well, before dragging them both down the hallway and dumping them outside their door. It was already 2100 standard hours and she was getting irritable.

"Now, goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the Nubian termites bite." Turning on her heel, she crossed the hallway and entered her room, the door closing behind her with a hiss.

"Obi-Wan?"

"Yes, Garen?"

"Let's not bother her tomorrow." He held out his hand and Obi-Wan reached across from his space on the floor to shake it.

"Agreed." Picking themselves up, both young men opened their door and quietly entered, making sure not to wake their already sleeping masters.

Laying down in his bed, Obi-Wan's last conscious thought didn't really even register in his mind. _What happened to the boy?_

* * *

While not having to sleep did have it's advantages, there were also numerous disadvantages. One of those being the immense boredom that comes when everyone worth talking to is asleep. It was often remedied with meditation or talking to one of his awake Family members (who aggravatingly enough could sleep), but there were many times when Anakin wished he could rest and dream.

It wasn't just the fact that he didn't have to sleep, for if it was just that then he would have slept just to pass time, but it was the fact that he couldn't sleep. Yes, unfortunately, it was physically and mentally impossible for him to sleep. Father had said that there was a reason for it, but Anakin scoffed and said it was just so He would have more of a reason to talk without excuses of tiredness.

This is not to say that it wasn't all bad. During the day, Anakin would act as a normal child, running up and down the caverns, talking to his Siblings, and even playing with the occasional gorgodon (who were actually quite friendly once you gained their trust). It was during the night, however, that the boring stuff happened.

Father had insisted that Anakin learn all he could before leaving. So at night, he would usually end up in meditation and either be taught by Father in the controlling of his powers (sometimes successful), or listen in on schools across the galaxy. It had helped him of course, making him fluent in several different languages (usually learning curses before anything else, much to his Parents' dismay). His mathematics and engineering skills were on par with any seasoned professor or mechanic. The boy had learned to read as many languages as he spoke, but it wasn't exactly a joy of his. He knew galactic history pretty well, and politics weren't that hard for him (except for the fact that he found most politicians to be major crackpots). Unfortunately, he was abysmal at paying attention, which definitely cause problems with science, especially when trying to make his own poisons from the rare fauna in the caves. That was never to be repeated, his entire Family had agreed.

However, now that he was off Ilum and was about to be taught by proper teachers, his Father had deemed it unnecessary unless he felt the need to. The nine-year-old didn't. It was also rather unfortunate that Anakin despised meditation and, if given the choice, would avoid it at any means possible. So all that was left was to explore the ship.

Anakin turned the corner and came across the droid parts Obi-Wan had almost tripped over earlier. Maybe he wouldn't be so bored after all.

* * *

It wasn't uncommon for Obi-Wan to wake up in the middle of the night do to a dream, but it was uncommon for him to actually get out of bed. Normally, he would just lay there before falling back asleep, but something, whether it be the Force or something else, told him to get up.

Stumbling out of the room, the padawan made his way down the hallway, not exactly awake, but not asleep either. He didn't know where he was headed, but he certainly wasn't prepared for the sight that met him. When he managed to wrap his brain around what he saw, all sleep was driven from his mind, only to be replaced by shock.

The droid parts from earlier were strewn across the floor, pieces were everywhere, even behind the boy's ear. Yes, the boy from Ilum was there. In fact, he was sitting right smack dab in the center of the mess, so concentrated in his work that he didn't even acknowledge Obi-Wan's presence. The child was apparently trying to fix the ruined protocol droid with the scraps and pieces he had.

Obi-Wan didn't know how the boy had built that thing so quickly, for he distinctly remembered the droid having only been a couple of spare parts when he tripped—stumbled—over it. Now, the thing actually had a shape and wires, heck, all it needed now was another eye (which the boy was currently searching for), and some coverings.

Looking to his left, the apprentice found the illustrious eye and picked it up, little Anakin still not acknowledging him. The child was throwing parts every which way, muttering in a slew of different languages that Obi-Wan didn't know.

"Ahem…" The boy looked up and the padawan had to hold back laughter at the child's shaak in the headlights look. Holding up the eye, Obi-Wan asked, "Looking for this?"

With a quick nod of thanks, Anakin took it from the outstretched hand and swiftly added it onto the droid.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did you manage to create this droid so quickly?" There was a slight pause and a shrug from the boy, before any words were actually spoken.

"I don't know exactly. The parts were all here, with the exception of a few wires, which I built from some scrap around the ship. All I really needed to do was assemble him."

"Yes, but even that should have taken days without machines. I mean we've only been in space for about six hours." Obi-Wan shook his head. This boy was getting stranger and stranger.

"Well, I had nothing else to do really and I enjoy machines." His eyes glistened with mirth. "One time, a few years back, a ship crashed near the caves. The pilot was killed, but his ship wasn't all that bad. I managed to fix it and even flew it a few times before the gorgodons destroyed it."

"How did you manage that without any proper training?" The twenty-five-year-old was having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that a child who grew up in basic solitude and mechanical depravity could repair something without any guidance.

"Oh, but I did have proper training." The padawan looked at him curiously. "Since I can't sleep, Father lets me visit lessons on other planets through a visionary technique of His. I can learn anything I want so long as Father approves."

"Wow. Do you do that often?"

"Only at night mostly. I didn't really enjoy it, but Father didn't want me to be too far behind my peers." Anakin shrugged and silence enveloped the two as the boy struggled to find coverings.

"So, what's going on with this droid here." Obi-Wan said, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Well, I managed to find an actual TranLang III Communicator module hidden under one of the storage boxes. So I put that together with the AA-1 VerboBrain I found mixed in with the other parts." Almost bouncing in excitement, Anakin turned to an amused Obi-Wan. "Cool, huh?"

Obi-Wan, who only understood the fact that the droid could now speak, nodded his head rapidly, trying not to look confused.

"Yeah, he should be able to speak over six million different languages now, **and** he has over thirty secondary functions as well." Well, that certainly cleared things up for the padawan.

"Hey?" Obi-Wan looked down at the excitedly talking child. "Do you think the Jedi will let me keep him?"

Shrugging, the apprentice said, "I don't know. They might, but the Jedi don't really have much use for protocol droids."

"Oh…" The boy looked down dejected.

"But, I'm sure one protocol droid can't hurt." He said hurriedly, as he tried to salvage the conversation and the boy's mood.

"Yeah! He'll be of help. I promise!" The boy grinned widely, and Obi-Wan found himself doing the same.

"Good! I must say, a protocol droid would be nice to have around." Giving the droid an appraising look, Obi-Wan continued. "So what's its' name?"

"I'm gonna call him C-3PO."

"Nice. It's a fitting name for it."

"Him." Obi-Wan looked confused.

"Pardon?"

"Threepio's male." Anakin whispered, as if the droid could actually hear him.

"Oh, right. I would hate to upset it—him—by calling him an it." The boy nodded, grinning.

Another silence came to rest on the two, something which appeared to happen a lot, but at least this one was more comfortable than all the others.

"What are you doing up anyway?" The boy turned to look at the padawan after a moment. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Obi-Wan said in a half-teasing, half-serious tone.

"I told you before that I don't sleep, remember?" The padawan nodded in remembrance. "What's your excuse?"

"Just a dream." He tried to shrug it off as non-important, but the boy was relentless in his energy.

"Wow! I wish I could dream." He looked over at the older male, scrutinizing him, yet questioning at the same time. "What's it like?"

Surprised, it took Obi-Wan a few minutes to answer. "Well, it depends really."

"Depends?"

"Yeah," He nodded at the boy's questioning glance. "Sometimes, dreams are really nice, but other times they're not. Bad dreams are called nightmares, or night scares by little children."

"Oh…" Anakin looked at the floor, before looking back up at Obi-Wan's grey-blue eyes. "Did you have a night scare?"

"I don't remember exactly, but it probably wasn't anything to worry about." He tried to sound optimistic for the child, but Anakin didn't look reassured.

"I get scared sometimes." He whispered so quietly that Obi-Wan almost didn't hear him. "I'm afraid of letting everyone down." The boy began to sniffle, and the padawan realized that the child was actually about to cry.

Smiling sadly, Obi-Wan moved passed the droid parts littering the floor. Sitting down next to the currently sniffling child, he put his arm around him and pulled Anakin into a one-armed hug. He felt the boy stiffen slightly before melting into the embrace.

Obi-Wan uncertainly put his other arm around him and set Anakin on his lap as the boy started to cry out his troubles, not knowing exactly how to handle an upset child. He calmly began rocking the boy, whispering meaningless words into his ear, and mimicking what he'd seen the crèche masters do on the rare times he'd been there. Only when he heard the boy stop crying, did he look down.

"I'm sorry." He heard the child whisper. "I've ruined your shirt."

Smiling slightly, Obi-Wan replied, "That's alright, it'll dry. Now why don't you tell me what's wrong."

The boy looked uncertain for a moment and began chewing on his lower lip. Chuckling softly, the padawan pushed the boy away, but kept his hands firmly on his shoulders.

Hoping he was doing this right, he said, "I promise not to tell, okay?"

"Promise?" The boy appeared unsure, but Obi-Wan smiled reassuringly.

"Promise. In fact, I'll even try to help."

The boy chewed on his lip for another moment before nodding slowly. "Well, my Family has always told me that it was my destiny to bring Father back into Balance. I'm not really scared about that exactly, but I don't want to disappoint Them."

Obi-Wan was stunned. It had been evident when they found him, or rather he found them, that the boy was the Chosen One, but to have the boy actually come right out and say it was another thing entirely. Deciding that his silence wasn't the best thing, Obi-Wan nodded for the boy to continue, still trying to overcome his shock.

"I know I can do it, but the Dark is so powerful, so cold. I don't know how to fight the cold." Obi-Wan could see that the boy was about ready to cry again and enclosed him in another hug.

After a pause, the padawan began telling Anakin something he felt Master Qui-Gon would have said had he been in this situation.

"It's alright to be scared, Anakin. You have every right to be. But, your Family isn't asking for you to bring Balance right away. Sweet Force, if you tried that now, you probably would fail, but that's why your Father wants the Jedi to train you." Seeing the calming boy's teary confused face, Obi-Wan elaborated. "We can teach you to control your powers in a way the Darkness cannot fight off. We'll teach you how to fight off the cold so that you can win. So don't worry about your duty right now, just focus on learning and I know you can win."

The boy smiled a bright teary smile and snuggled up against the padawan.

"Will you help me, Obi-Wan?"

Shocked for a moment, Obi-Wan nodded his head. "Yes, Anakin, I'll help you."

"Thank you."

Nothing more was said that night as Anakin felt Obi-Wan fall asleep a half hour later. Even though his fears were still there, for the first time in his life, Anakin could rely on another tangible person for guidance, it felt nice in a way. Although unable to sleep himself, the boy remained snuggled in the older man's embrace, spending the rest of the night just listening to the first heartbeat he had ever heard.

* * *

**Oh boy! That took a while. I hit a few snags with this chapter, 'cuz I really want to get to the part where they get to the Temple. I also realized that the ending was a bit rushed, but I was running out of steam and I kinda wanted to show that Anakin and Obi-Wan have a bond that's quickly beginning to manifest. **

**I hope you all enjoyed. Please review (don't just read, because I have a hug hit stats, but few reviews). I really don't enjoy flames, so don't do those. I hope to have the next chapter up by Sunday, but I don't know what my schedule is like. I'm currently doing a lot of community service for my school's IB program and I have 3 summer jobs. **

**Well, it is 2:27 AM and I am going to bed.**

**Goodnight!**

**--TimeMage0955**


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